Honestly, I'd polish em before I considered re-crowning. The neck hasn't been looked after too well, but isn't in terrible state. Fretware is impossible to accurately judge without having the neck in your hands.

Frets are the one thing that don't cost to maintain, really.

If you want to get into it you need 2 basic tools.

http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/WhetStonesForSale.html

Though I just use a £2 sharpening stone.

And I wholly recommend a dedicated crowning file. It's easy enough to round the tops of the frets with a 3corner file with the 3 corners ground flat. However a dedicated crown file is much easier to use.
They come in two types. Half round and quarter round. One has a half circle shaped file face, the other has a quarter circle.

Here's the half round. Very very easy to use, they come in different sizes to better suit fret size.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/Double-edge_Fret_File.html
And my favourite, the one size fits all quarter round.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/Quarter-round_Fret_File.html
Thats the one I own and thats also where I bought it from. Despite my moaning about Stewmac. Not as easy to use as the half round, and you could easily argue that because so, doesn't produce as good a crown. I however disagree, I simply make a couple of passes either side of the fret, then round over the top.

When it comes to fret ends, well I like to whetstone them. You can pay out for fret end files.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Fretting_supplies/Shaping_and_crowning/3-Corner_Fret_Dressing_Files.html
I however much prefer Ceri's method of gluing sandpaper to a lollypop stick. I think it's a work of utter genius. Just leave one edge of the stick uncovered, so it can pass across wood without marking it.
The beauty of that is that you can use as coarse or fine a paper as you wish.

Whatever tools you go with they'll last you a lifetime. You'll only ever use em to maintain frets. However you'll never have to pay someone to do a job you'll probably do better yourself.

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No no and no

niki thank you so much for taking the time to encourage me on this.
im pretty sure i can do this job myself if i take my time with the right tools.
the expense to upkeep our guitars has gone through the roof over the yrs and we need to get some of the jobs being done back in the hands of the player. we players with experience should not be going to other people to set up or maintain our guitars.
just my opinion. some guys will never feel comfortable in doing their own work.
on the vintage stuff, i would rather take it to a skilled pro on some things.
i like stewmac even though they are very proud of their tools and supplies. i remember a time when they were not like that. i guess like everything else time changes all.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I got no problem with pride in product. Infact I won't shop with stores that don't have pride in what they sell. What I do object to is some of the tactics and hype used.

Anyway, with fretwork, be gentle. You're dealing with thousandth's of a inch, you don't need to be heavy handed. Get your first fret right, all the others ever so slightly lower than that.
Buy a 2nd hand starcaster to practice on, or some other junk guitar. Theres plenty of good info online about how to do the work itself. Anything I say will just be a repeat of that. But ask questions when you're doing the job, I'll be happy to help.
Level frets mean nice necks!

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No no and no

thank you niki for your offer.
theres a dan erlewine dvd im looking at about fretwork. i like dans videos.
yeah he could do a bit more but i think thats with any instructional video.
i have a older jackson low quality guitar and a squier to play on to learn.
so i figure its like cutting hair, a bit at a time, ya can alway take more off
if you need to.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Yeah exactly. Watch out for that Erlewine, he'll have you convinced you need all sorts of things that you dont. Or if you do, you can likely buy them cheaper than from him.
Aside from crowning files, their a good price and not readily available on the high street.

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No no and no

yep. like at their ordering book, there several things in there that do the same job.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I'm glad your story had a happy ending. Keep up posted in your project.
Kenny V

Nice! Those old Kramers are where it's at.

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Yes... No... ... Maybe

oh they are something arent they lol.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."